Page 43 of Bewitched by the Wicked Witch (The Bewitching Hour #4)
Twenty-Seven
Sage
T he aftermath of rescuing four traumatized teenagers and converting two conspirators into amphibians probably should have felt more triumphant.
Instead, as Callum and I made our way back through Old Hollows' predawn streets after delivering everyone safely to Gran's house, I found myself hoping we could slip home unnoticed.
Of course, that wasn’t what happened.
"Tommy Bishop and Cate Bennett were behind it all," Callum explained to the mob, his voice carrying the authority of someone accustomed to being taken seriously.
"They conspired to kidnap and torture innocent girls in the name of their twisted ideology.
Sage and I discovered their operation, and we ended it. "
Before the crowd could process this information properly, a figure pushed through their ranks with the determination of someone who had a great deal invested in maintaining the current narrative.
Councilman Bishop emerged from the mob like a particularly unpleasant jack-in-the-box, his face twisted with the kind of malice that comes from having your world view threatened by inconvenient facts.
"Lies!" he spat, his eyes bulging with indignation. "My son would never stoop to such depravity. This is nothing more than an evil witch's trick, a ploy to escape righteous justice!"
I felt something dangerous shift inside me as his words registered. The careful control I'd maintained throughout this entire ordeal began to fray at the edges, and the shadows around me deepened in response to my rising anger.
"Your son," I said with deadly calm, "was caught in the act of draining magical energy from teenage girls. But please, continue defending his honor. It's really helping your case."
The crowd's uncertainty crystallized into hostility at Bishop's words, and suddenly hands were grabbing me from behind. I pulled my magic to me instinctively, giving into the darkness that had been waiting patiently for an excuse to express itself properly.
The dark magic surged through my veins like liquid starlight, and I threw back the arms holding me, letting the power manifest in ways that finally felt natural rather than restrained.
I rose into the air, my hair whipping around my face in an otherworldly wind, amethyst flames dancing at my fingertips.
The crowd fell back in terror, their pitchforks and torches clattering to the ground as they cowered before what I'd spent years trying to hide .
"You wanted a wicked witch?" I asked, my voice echoing with harmonics that definitely weren't human. "Well, congratulations. You've found one."
I turned my gaze upon Councilman Bishop, watching his face turn ashen as he realized he might have miscalculated. The dark magic crackled around me, begging to be unleashed, to make him pay for his lies and willful ignorance.
Before I could decide whether turning him into an amphibian to match his son was ethically justifiable, a spell hit me with the force of a freight train. The freeze charm immobilized me mid-air, and I dropped like a stone, my concentration shattered.
The box containing Tommy and Cate went flying, landing with a crash that released two very confused frogs into the chaos.
"Sorry, Sage," Hank's voice said from somewhere behind me as gravity claimed me ungracefully. "Orders are orders."
Iron shackles snapped around my wrists before I hit the ground, the metal burning against my skin and effectively cutting off my connection to the magic that had been flowing through me moments before.
Unlike the simple silver-plated cuffs I'd slipped out of in the past, these were clearly designed specifically for magic users.
Enchanted iron meant to be unbreakable and to null all magical abilities completely.
But as I wiggled my finger and tested the boundaries, I noticed something.
These were defective. Someone had tried to enhance the spell, but there on the seams of the enchantment, I felt a minor mistake.
Just enough to sneak in my magic and break it open.
Instead of ripping them apart, I played along and waited.
Smirking openly at their stupidity.
"Hank," I said with the patience of someone explaining basic concepts to a particularly dense student, "you do realize you're helping cover up a child torture ring, right?"
"I'm following the law," he replied, though he wouldn't meet my eyes. "Until the council says otherwise, you're under arrest for practicing dark magic."
Cosmo's growl split the air as he launched himself at someone, I suspected Hank based on the scream of terror that followed, but soon Cosmo went silent in a way that made my blood boil. They'd incapacitated my familiar, the one truly innocent party in this entire mess.
"If you've hurt him—" I started, but Callum's shout cut me off.
"Stop!" he called out, his words infused with the authority of the High Council. "As a representative of the Council, I declare that Sage Blackstone is innocent of these crimes!"
The mob hesitated, their grip on me loosening slightly as they turned to face Callum with a mixture of confusion and resentment. I tested my jaw to make sure it still worked, then rolled my eyes at the dramatic pause.
"Oh, please," I scoffed, my voice dripping with sarcasm despite my current predicament. "You wouldn't know real justice if it bit you on your collective asses."
Callum's expression turned coldly professional as he addressed the crowd.
"Actually, Councilman Bishop, you're wrong on several counts.
First, the moment you attempted to execute someone without a proper trial, this became a High Council matter.
Second, when crimes cross jurisdictional boundaries, which kidnapping and murder certainly do, local authority is superseded.
And third…" His voice dropped dangerously.
"...when a High Council agent is investigating, obstruction becomes a federal magical offense. "
Bishop jabbed a finger at me, his face mottled with fury. "Jurisdictions and trials and procedures, while this witch walks free to kill again!" He turned to rally the crowd. "Justice delayed is justice denied! To the pyre with her!"
The mob surged forward once more, propelling me towards what I now realized was a hastily constructed bonfire in the town square. Someone had been very optimistic about tonight's entertainment value.
"Callum!" I called out, my voice tinged with exasperation more than fear. "A little help here? I'd rather not be barbecued today, if it's all the same to you!"
Callum's lips twitched as he fought back what might have been amusement at my irreverent response to mortal peril. He raised his hands, his aura shimmering with golden light.
"By the power vested in me by the High Council, I command you to release Sage Blackstone immediately!"
The mob completely ignored him, which seemed to genuinely shock Callum as if official authority usually worked better than this.
"No!" I called out with growing urgency. "Use actual magic, not bureaucracy!"
Callum began to chant what sounded like a binding spell, but before he could complete it, Hank appeared behind him and delivered what could only be described as a professionally executed sucker punch.
"Callum!" I screamed as he crumpled to the ground.
The mob dragged me toward the towering pyre with the enthusiasm of people who'd been looking forward to this all evening. I struggled against their iron grip, my magic sputtering slowly working through unraveling the enchanted shackles.
"Come on, guys!" I pleaded, my voice tinged with desperate humor. "Can't we discuss this over coffee like civilized people? I promise not to turn anyone into small amphibians!"
They hoisted me onto the pyre, the rough wood scraping against my skin as they secured me to the stake with ropes that had clearly been prepared in advance.
I craned my neck, searching frantically for Callum among the sea of angry faces, my heart sinking as I spotted him still unconscious beside an equally incapacitated Cosmo.
"Some rescue team you two turned out to be!" I called out, my voice cracking with a mixture of fear and gallows humor. "Remind me to leave terrible reviews when this is all over!"
Councilman Bishop stepped forward, holding a flickering torch with the theatrical flair of someone who'd been practicing this moment. His piggy eyes gleamed with malicious triumph as he savored his moment of victory.
"Sage Blackstone," he intoned with self-righteous pomposity, "you have been found guilty of witchcraft, black magic, and crimes against the good people of Old Hollows. Time to face the consequences. "
He lowered the torch to the kindling at my feet, and the dry wood caught instantly. Flames surged upward, their heat enveloping me in what should have been a blistering death sentence.
But as the fire roared around me, something unexpected happened. Instead of searing pain, I felt a strange sense of completion, as if some final piece of myself had clicked into place. The dark magic within me pulsed and thrummed, no longer fighting against my control but working with it.
My eyes snapped open, glowing violet as I fixed my gaze upon the startled faces of the mob. The flames licked at my skin but found no purchase, my magic creating a protective barrier that turned their heat into nothing more than a warm caress.
For the first time in my life, my power didn't feel evil or wrong. It felt like me.
The iron shackles cracked and fell away like brittle leaves, my magic finally free to protect me properly. I stood tall amidst the raging inferno, casually brushing embers from my singed skirts.
"Is that all you've got?" I called out, my voice ringing with genuine amusement above the roar of the flames. "I've had spicier encounters with takeout food!"
The crowd stumbled back, their eyes wide with disbelief as they watched me step down from the pyre completely unharmed. This was apparently not how their evening was supposed to go.